Anton Ferdinand ignored both Chelsea captain
John Terry and left-back
Ashley Cole in the pre-match handshakes at Loftus Road, as the sides played out a 0-0 stalemate.

John Terry offered his hand to Anton Ferdinand but was snubbed (Picture: Getty)

Ferdinand and Terry were the first to face each other in the procedure as club captains and while the Chelsea man offered his hand to the Hoops defender, Ferdinand went straight to Petr Cech , next in the Blues’ line.The 27-year-old proceeded to shake hands with the remainder of the Chelsea players, but also ignored Cole.

‘As far as we are concerned our players offered and if they don’t want to receive we move on,’ said Chelsea boss Roberto di Matteo.

As expected, it was a fiery affair at Loftus Road which always threatened to boil over, but the Blues manager paid credit to both sets of players for remaining ‘professional’ in difficult circumstances.

The Italian’s side had the better of the first half, as they saw two good penalty shouts turned down by referee Andre Marriner, while Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres both failed to covert good chances.

But it was the hosts who came out the stronger in the second half and Ji-Sung Park spurned a great chance to put his side in front with a free header which he could only guide into the hands of Cech.

Di Matteo made changes to try and bring his side back into the game, with Victor Moses making his Chelsea debut when he replaced Ryan Bertrand, while Daniel Sturridge came on for the struggling Torres.

And it was Moses who nearly made the most decisive pass of the game, as he teed up Hazard in the dying minutes – only for the Belgian to miss the target from close range.

The draw ensures Chelsea remain top of the Premier League, but Manchester United narrowed the gap to just a point with victory over Wigan.

Meanwhile, QPR climbed out of the relegation zone to be replaced by Reading, who face Tottenham tomorrow.